A/N: Hello everyone, I'm back with my second fan fiction. My first was a modern adaptation posted here some months ago called One Narrow Aisle. I am excited and nervous to post for my Regency adaptation Unfathomable. Please read and review everything (writing style, plot points, characterization, etc.).

Some notes: I borrow heavily from Jane Austen's text at times. I have often appropriated lines to other characters or lightly quoted verbatim. I also borrowed some phrasing from my fave adaptation: 1995 BBC/A&E P&P. I have kept some P&P fan fave characteristics as well: Caroline in orange, Fanny and Thomas as the Bennets' first names, etc. My characters may be OOC from the original but I try to keep them consistent in this work. Also, I know I may make some blasphemous pairings but stick with me!

Beta: I need a beta! I tried looking and got overwhelmed. Anyone who is interested, please PM me so we can work out the details. Looking for help with catching my hurried grammar mistakes and overarching plot (though I reserve the right to be obstinate and headstrong about the story in my head!)

Chapter 1: Rightful Property

The Bennet ladies were employed in useful labor of elegant females when the sound of a sharp rapping at the door alerted them to an impending visitor. The family's matriarch, Mrs. Bennet jumped up, inadvertently knocking her cap askew as their housekeeper Hill scurried out of the sitting room to receive the unexpected guest. The youngest Bennet, Lydia, threw to the floor her bonnet that she had been trimming. She raced her mother to the enormous bay window, each kneeling on the window seat in an attempt to discern to whom they owed the unexpected pleasure of a morning call.

The other Bennet daughters paused briefly in their pursuits, with the exception of the middle child, Mary, who continued her perusal of her favorite tome of sermons. A visitor was certainly welcome during these odd days of autumn. It had been raining more than customary and all of the daughters had felt the absence of regular outdoor amusements keenly.

"I cannot see who it is," Lydia complained. A shuffling in the hall told them that the person at the door had been admitted and Mrs Bennet dashed back to her place on the settee next to her second eldest, Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been embroidering handkerchiefs for her father, a task she was not wholly fond of but was the most skilled of her sisters and so the office fell to her. She gladly put the needle down and waited for the visitor with bright and inquisitive eyes.

"Mrs. Long," Hill announced. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of disappointment. She had hoped it to be Charlotte Lucas, her dearest friend and neighbor but alas it was the gossipy associate of her mother. Elizabeth had been dissatisfied by this pinched faced woman as long as she could remember. As a child she dreamt of snatching the horrid blue and gold traveling bonnet she wore for every visit and tossing it into the pigsty. She imagined the pursed lips stretching themselves, almost to breaking, to form a sneer at her pertness. Alas, it never came to fruition, and Elizabeth had to content herself with the fantasy of it all.

"Mrs Bennet," Mrs. Long screeched as she bustled into the room. It seemed that Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Long and their contemporaries had but one volume. "I have come to share the most wondrous news." She settled herself messily in between Elizabeth and her mother, causing the younger woman to give up her seat for one in which she would not have to share.

Mrs. Bennet eyed the other woman, trying to contain her interest. She didn't enjoy being the recipient of news as much as she enjoyed being the bearer. "Of what nature is this news?" she queried languidly, feigning disinterest. "Has Mr. Craftholm been overcharging you for fish again because that hardly qualifies as wondrous."

Mrs. Long wrinkled her nose at her friend, her features drawing themselves together tightly. Elizabeth checked her laughter in time and turned her face away. "No my dear friend, he knows much better than to trifle with me, however, I am not here to tell you about my purchases in Meryton but rather what has transpired in Meryton." She paused, waiting for a reaction. When one did not appear she pressed on. "It is about Netherfield Park."

Mrs. Bennet's eyes brightened slightly but her mouth remaining fixed in a small frown. The Bennet girls each leaned forward, eager to hear word about the large estate that had been uninhabited for some time. "It has been let," Mrs. Long trumpeted.

"Well I am excessively glad," Mrs. Bennet drawled, affecting boredom.

Mrs. Long frowned. "Wouldn't you like to know who has let Netherfield?" She was very displeased that her friend was not salivating at this knowledge.

Mrs. Bennet shrugged. "I suppose you must tell me and I have no objection to hearing it."

Elizabeth smiled at her mother's restraint. Oh, if only she could show that same fortitude when it was actually required. Elizabeth had lost count of the times her mother had made a spectacle of herself, both in the privacy of home and in the glare of public.

Mrs. Long grinned at her friend but too many teeth were showing and so she looked more like a lap dog in mid-snarl. "A young man has let it. A single young man." She allowed the information to waft down and permeate each of the listeners. The Bennet girls exchanged excited glances and even Mrs. Bennet could maintain her stony countenance no longer. Mrs. Long felt the triumph and went on, "A single young man of large fortune from the north of England," she said gleefully.

Lydia and Kitty, her youngest but one, squealed loudly and Mrs. Bennet could not contain her enthusiasm another second. "Loretta Long, are you certain?" She began to bounce up and down in her seat. "What a wonderful thing for my girls," she exclaimed. Her golden curls, dulled by age but still handsome in color bounced merrily along with her.

Mrs. Long drew up her spine to its full length and threw her head back haughtily. "Your girls? I may not have any daughters remaining to marry off but I have two nieces that may very well catch his fancy." She smoothed the folds of her dress rapidly as if smoothing her own ruffled feathers.

"Of course you do, Retta." Mrs. Bennet widened her eyes and simpered sweetly. "Prudence and Lucretia are dear, sweet girls, and I see how you'd want to throw them into this man's path." She paused, lifting an eyebrow before continuing, "Especially considering Prudence is practically on the shelf and Lucretia is ever so plain. Perhaps they will suit his fancy. Some men want a homely looking wife. No need to worry about other men coveting their bride and all of that nonsense. Duels are such messy things..." she trailed off fingering the rose sprigged fabric of her housedress.

Mother can be quite the tiger when she desires, Elizabeth mused, watching Mrs. Long's face turn from creamy white to a strawberry red. She disliked finding sport in her mother's behavior and Mrs. Long's discomfort, however, and spoke up to ease the other woman's feelings. "Do we know when this young man will be joining the neighborhood?" Elizabeth asked.

Mrs. Long frowned at Elizabeth, suspicious of her desire to ensnare this new addition and suddenly regretful that she came. "I am not certain," she said slowly. "However, Mr. Long has assured me that he will take possession of Netherfield ere long, before Michaelmas I believe, to avoid settling in winter. His servants will be in the house by the end of next week."

"And have you met him?" Kitty asked eagerly.

Mrs. Long's lips drew up in a distasteful pucker. She had hoped to crow over meeting this young man but in truth she had lost the desire to speak of him. "Mr. Long made his acquaintance on Monday when he travelled down to meet with Mr. Morris." That was true. If she omitted her meeting it could spare some more questions and put this ill-conceived interview at an end.

"Did he have his own carriage?" Mrs. Bennet asked, raising an eyebrow at Mrs. Long's unanswered question about meeting the young man.

Mrs. Long cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Mr. Long told me Mr. Bingley came down in a chaise and four."

"Mr. Bingley," Lydia breathed, laughing. "How delightful Lydia Bingley sounds."

Mrs. Bennet laughed heartily at the wit of her favorite and Mrs. Long arose to take her leave. She did not feel any of the pleasure that she had anticipated from this meeting. In fact she was quite put out.

Mere seconds after their neighbor quit the room Mrs. Bennet rounded on her daughters and exclaimed, "Girls, we must find your father at once. He must be the first to welcome Mr. Bingley to our fine neighborhood. We cannot allow the Longs that honor." A search began for Mr. Bennet and though Elizabeth knew well where he was apt to hide she gave no hint of her superior knowledge.

They spent the better part of the afternoon searching for Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet assumed she had the upper hand by searching Mr. Bennet's bookroom from the beginning. Mr. Bennet had vacated the room, however, upon hearing the screeching voice of Mrs. Long and had made haste to the pasture separating Netherfield Park from Longbourn. Elizabeth, once she had established the guise of being a partner in said search for her father had leisurely strolled out to the east pasture. The mud was thick as she expertly stepped through the soaked ground.

"They are all searching for you, as you are well aware."

"I am," he affirmed. "And as you are well aware, that is why I am here."

Elizabeth grabbed some blooms off a tall stalk of grass. "Yes, I wouldn't give up your secret. Mama is desperate to speak with you."

Mr. Bennet quirked an eyebrow at his favorite daughter. "It is a matter of great import, I am sure."

Elizabeth nodded. "It is, sir. It is a matter of matrimonial import."

Mr. Bennet laughed quietly and turned towards the fields. "It always is. There is a common denominator in your mother's speeches. One simply has to pause to listen to the constant marital machinations. It is amazing for her capacity to plan weddings that may never come to fruition."

Elizabeth inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of the late blooming Lady of the Meadow. She loved being out in the vales near her home, hugged by the rolling hills and free from the restraints of polite society. She slunk down against a fallen tree trunk and closed her eyes.

"Dreaming of your own wedding, eh Lizzy?" her father teased.

"Papa, you know very well that I am unlikely to find someone that can withstand my caprice and more importantly, my temper. Men want silly wives and that I am proud to say, I am not."

Elizabeth's father dropped down onto the log next to his daughter, straightening his right leg painfully. "That you are not, but you'll forgive me if I include you in my appraisal of your ridiculous sisters. It makes your mother ever so upset to have all her daughters labeled as silly."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll agree to it but only if you make an attempt to appease Mama. She will be a bear if she does not get her way on this."

Mr. Bennet viewed his daughter with shrewd discernment. "I will acquiesce my dear, for you sake, but please know that you have robbed me of a distinct pleasure. I cannot say yet how much tax I will require of your request, nor how quickly I shall abide."

"I should expect nothing less."

Mr. Bennet smiled benevolently at his second eldest daughter. He was pleased to have someone simpatico with his odd personality. "Incidentally, to what have I agreed?"

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at her father. "I am loathe to ruin the surprise. I will allow my excellent mother reveal it to you as she wishes. I am sure you will delight in the errand she has assigned to you."

Mr. Bennet rolled his eyes and stamped his walking stick on the ground. "Well, there's no time like the present. Shall we?" He began walking back towards Longbourn and Elizabeth heaved herself off the ground, eager to witness the repartee between her parents.

"Elizabeth Bennet, have you been rolling around in the mud?" Mrs. Bennet's shrill voice assaulted her daughter's ears as she helped her father over the threshold. Mrs. Bennet's voice immediately changed to a simper at the sight of her husband entering with her second eldest. "Mr. Bennet, there you are you sly thing. We have been in a dither searching for you."

Mr. Bennet sunk down into a chair near the fire, tapping his right leg with his cane. As a young man he had injured his leg after a bad fall from a horse and it had never healed properly. The tapping was habitual and Elizabeth relished the familiarity of it. "A little dither is good for the soul," he replied cheerfully.

Mrs. Bennet gaped at her husband with an odd expression. She never quite understood the peculiar adages and dribble that escaped her spouse's lips. Undeterred she went on, "My dear Mr. Bennet have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?" She went on to relay the marvelous tale of Mr. Bingley and his chaise and four. Elizabeth observed her father's witty rebuttals with amusement but felt the sting of disappointment at her mother's comportment. Gone was the fierce tiger of earlier that morning. Before her sat a woman who cowered and cowed, equal parts pathetic and ridiculous. She was disgusted by the transformation that some women underwent being in the presence of a man.

"What a wonderful things for our four girls!" Mrs Bennet insisted shrilly.

Mr. Bennet's eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. "Has some calamity fallen one of our daughters? Upon my last perusal of our family tree, and I apologize that perhaps it is my error as it has been many months since I have viewed the family bible, we have five silly daughters, not four. Have you perchance given up on poor Mary?" The middle daughter looked up briefly from her book, her eyes wide and confused.

"Of course not. How can you be so tiresome? You must know that Jane is nearly engaged."

"She is?" Mr. Bennet asked, this time with actual surprise. He looked at Elizabeth for confirmation and upon seeing her face turned back to his wife. "Mrs. Bennet?" he asked in a scolding tone. "I don't recall being asked for my consent and I think I would have heard a great deal more from you - both in volume of voice and number of words - if our daughter was nearly engaged."

Mrs. Bennet tugged at her lace cap and frowned at Mr. Bennet and her second eldest. "Well, I said nearly. She has been much in company of the elder son of the Earl of Matlock. A few more weeks should do the trick."

"So which of our daughters will you be foisting upon this unsuspecting gentleman?"

Mrs. Bennet bristled. "Foisting? Honestly Mr. Bennet, the way you speak makes it seem you do not want any of your daughters married. My only goal in this life is to make sure that my daughters are provided for once you are gone." Her eyes brimmed with tears and Mr. Bennet felt his heart constrict as he watched his wife shake with emotion. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at another of her mother's unsightly displays. "We are treacherously close to starving in the hedgerows, Mr. Bennet. As a father you certainly cannot deny your daughters a chance at happiness, at security. You must visit Mr. Bingley as soon as he comes."

"I certainly will not," he intoned flatly.

Mrs. Bennet sobbed loudly. "Not even for your Lizzy? You'd withhold this opportunity from Elizabeth?"

Mr. Bennet scrutinized his wife as she dabbed at the corner of her eyes with one of Elizabeth's recently embroidered handkerchiefs. He idly admired the scrolling TMB initials in black thread. "As you wish, Mrs. Bennet," he said heavily. He heaved himself out of the chair and began retreating to his bookroom.

"What an excellent father you have girls," Mrs. Bennet said loudly, through her sniffles. "I do not know how you will ever make amends for his kindness." As Mr. Bennet fully left the room Elizabeth espied the triumphant look on her mother's face, her cheeks now bone dry and her eyes free from sorrow. The tiger is back, she thought, more impressed than dissatisfied at the moment.

Again, my shameless request:

Beta: I need a beta! I tried looking and got overwhelmed. Anyone who is interested, please PM me so we can work out the details. Looking for help with catching my hurried grammar mistakes and overarching plot (though I reserve the right to be obstinate and headstrong about the story in my head!)

And my second shameless request:

Review!